Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 2004 Mazda Tribute LX
Once our current century was underway, the prime directive for carmakers doing business in North America was plain: build SUVs or die. Mazda was late in developing its own SUVs, despite having been a major player in the small-pickup game here since the Mazda Proceed went on sale with Ford Courier badges in 1972, but selling Ford Explorers badged as Mazda Navajos during the first half of the 1990s bought the company some time. Mazda and Ford worked together to develop a shared platform for a compact SUV; this resulted in the Ford Escape and the Mazda Tribute, both debuting as 2001 models. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those first-generation Tributes, found in a Colorado self-service yard recently.
2004 was the final model year for the original Tribute and Escape designs; both got a facelift for 2005 and went to a substantially updated second generation for 2008.
The Tribute was built through the 2011 model year, after which it was replaced by the CX-5. All Tributes sold in North America were built at Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant, where Fairlanes, Falcons and Mavericks were born in the old days.
Our reviewer felt that the '04 Tribute was more fun to drive than its CR-V and RAV4 rivals, though it couldn't match the Jeep Liberty when driven off-road.
